Footprint Ghosts

I came across this craft on pinterest. (If you haven't signed up for pinterest, do it. It's an online bookmarking site. You can follow your friends and vice versa to share things you find and love online.) This was originally posted on Miner Moments blog. I love making things with handprints and footprints and I thought this was way too adorable! All of our holiday decorations are somewhere in our garage which is packed so full I can't even get in there. The joys of base housing with no storage space! Moving on.

Jack and I headed to the craft store for supplies yesterday and immediately got to work when he woke up from his nap. You can buy black canvas, but I wanted Jack to help as much as possible, so I went with a white one and had him paint it black.

Ah, the concentration.

I let him paint away until he yelled, "Alllll finished!"

Then I touched up the white spots he missed.

Then I painted his foot white. I did a test print on a paper bag to make sure he understood what the heck we were doing.

I don't have pretty handwriting, so I bought a stencil set with the "Happy Halloween" drippy font. I wrote "2011" with a white paint pen and used the top of a clicky pen dipped in black paint for the eyes. I hot glued the ribbon to the back and done!

I wish I had used a different stencil for the words. I think it's too small, but it'll do. I bought some glitter paint thinking it would work, but the letters were too small and it looked like a blob of silver glitter so I went with white. I also should have glued the ribbon on at an angle or done what I had thought about while I was cutting the ribbon and just glued it all the way around the sides of the canvas leaving the top part loose to hang it. I still think it's adorable!

Toddler Pillowcase Tutorial

I've made Jack two bedding sets for daycare but didn't know until a few weeks ago that they could have pillows at daycare too. Of course I had to make my boy some matching pillowcases! I didn't want an open-ended pillowcase, but one with an envelope opening in the back. My first attempt was a success, so I made another and another. This tutorial shows you how to make an envelope opening pillowcase using one piece of fabric for a 12x16 toddler pillow. I bought mine at Wal-Mart.

Start by cutting your fabric 13 inches by 38 inches. (I cut the one pictured 13 by 40 and it was too long, but I just have more of an overlap, which is not a huge deal.)

Next, go to your ironing board and take one of the short ends of the fabric and press it down about 1/2 inch.

Fold it over again and press that down. This will create a hem for you to sew down. Do the same to the other short end.

Now you're ready to sew. With the wrong side of the fabric up, sew down the hems you just pressed.

Now that you have your hems done, fold the ends to overlap each other with right sides of the fabric inward. You want the pillowcase to be the same size as your pillow so it fits snug. So overlap the two finished edges until the pillowcase is the same width as your pillow. It doesn't have to be exact. You can also place what will be the opening in the center of the case or off-center.

Pin down the two long edges and head back to your sewing machine and sew. You have plenty fabric for a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Again, it doesn't have to be precise.  You can also serge the edges.

Clip the corners if you used a regular sewing machine and turn right side out. You're done!

Easy, right?

Jack loves pancakes. I prefer to give him minimal processed foods. This pancake recipe is a favorite of mine from Hillbilly Housewife. They have just the right amount of fluff to them with more of an actual cake consistency. I plan on trying half whole wheat and half white flour next time I make them.

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
⅓ cup oil
1 egg
1 ½ cups milk

Whisk dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Add oil, egg, and milk. Stir until just combined without over mixing.

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DIY Diaper Sprayer Tutorial

This is the tutorial we used about a year ago when saw the need for a diaper sprayer.  Marty is a pretty handy guy, so he picked up the parts and had our sprayer installed in no time.  We've since moved and the sprayer came with us and still works perfectly.

If you want everything you need without having to sort through plumbing parts, you can buy a kit like this.

Angel Wing Fold (Prefold)

This was the easiest fold for us when Jack was tiny.  I'm not sure there is a fold out there that will absolutely positively contain breastfed newborn poop, but this fold did a decent job.  This is actually me and Jack when he was about 12 months.





I hope that makes putting a prefold on a baby a little less intimidating.  Just don't forget the cover.  :-)

Are you considering cloth?

There is so much information available on the internet about anything and everything.  There are numerous blogs, forums, and articles about cloth diapers and cloth versus disposables.  I have found the Real Diaper Association's website the most helpful for finding facts about why to choose cloth over disposables.  You'll find links to diaper services, daycares that accept cloth diapers, and even testimonials on the site.

My goal with this blog is to point you in the right direction for information and to share my own personal experiences with cloth diapers.  I can even show you how to sew your own cloth diapers!  I use patterns I purchased online, but there are a number of free patterns available online.  I've learned some shortcuts along the way that I am happy to share.

Also, if you'd like to see some of today's cloth diapers, click on the button to the top right in the sidebar and that will take you to my new favorite cloth diaper store, Wee Little Changes.